Tag Archives: Morality in Media

Anti-Pornography Groups Slam Fifty Shades of Grey Rating

Anti-pornography group Morality in Media is calling out the Motion Picture Association of America for giving the upcoming Fifty Shades of Grey an R rating despite the explicit sex scenes in the film.

MIM says that the rating given by the MPAA cites “unusual behavior” but ignores the fact that “behavior” is glorifying sexual violence.

“What the term ‘unusual’ does not account for is the coercion, sexual violence, female inequality, and BDSM themes from which the entire Fifty Shades plot is based,” MIM said in a statement. “Such a vague evaluation puts viewers at risk, sending the message that humiliation is pleasurable and that torture should be sexually gratifying.”

“We’d like to change the MPAA rating for Fifty Shades of Grey to read: ‘Promotes torture as sexually gratifying, graphic nudity, encourages stalking and abuse of power, promotes female inequality, glamorizes and legitimizes violence against women.’”

The movie is expected to be one of the biggest grossing films of the first quarter of 2015 and will be released around Valentine’s Day.

Google Eliminates Pornographic Ads

Google has announced that it will no longer allow advertising to depict sexual acts and other types of pornography.

The company sent an e-mail to advertising accounts saying that anyone using the Google AdWords system that it will restrict ads containing or linking to any sexually explicit content.  The announcement follows a meeting in May between Google and groups such as Morality in Media, Concerned Women for America and Focus on the Family.

“We are grateful that they are realizing that their profits from porn are not worth the devastation to children and families,” Morality in Media said in a statement.

In addition to the new restrictions on advertising, Google has increased policies for apps that can be sold through the Google Play store.  Apps that contain or promote sexually explicit or erotic content are no longer permitted and Google has removed several apps from the site that violated those policies.

Google has been part of the “Dirty Dozen” list released each year by PornHarms.com, a listing that shows the biggest contributors to sexual exploitation in America.  Google is on the 2014 list, released just before the announcement of the changes.  Other major companies on the list include Verizon, Barnes & Noble and Cosmopolitan magazine.